Bilt Rewards, the loyalty and payments platform that now powers rental payments in 25% of U.S. apartment buildings, today launched an AI-powered concierge service that lets members seamlessly interact with the growing network of local merchants and partners that have integrated into its ecosystem. With Bilt Neighborhood Concierge, Bilt’s 5.5 million members will ultimately be able to prompt the app to pay their rent, book amenities, reserve and pay for restaurants or fitness classes, order prescription deliveries, schedule rides, book flights and cash loyalty points without leaving the platform.
Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain compares the service to a hotel concierge that connects the home to the neighborhood around it. “Our brand has been the home,” says Jain, who earlier this year partnered with Verifone to integrate Bilt’s technology into its payment terminals, enabling millions of merchants to recognize and reward Bilt members at the point of sale. “We won the home. Now we can turn the home into the hub for everything you do—and buy—around it.”
“Everybody talks about agents and AI, but no one can take actions for you,” says Jain. “Because we’re integrated into your building, the restaurants, the gym, the grocery store, the car service and more, we can let customers wake up and say ‘hey, can you pay my rent for me, have eggs delivered to my apartment and make a reservation for dinner?”
What motivated Chenault to become an investor and mentor to Jain was the vision to connect local communities at scale. “If this was just a co-branded card, I would have had zero interest,” he says. “I saw that this was a neighborhood commerce platform.”
For landlords, Jain says the payoff is lower turnover, higher satisfaction and a 30% increase in on-time payments. For merchants, it’s more customers and repeat business. For consumers, the promise is less friction and more rewards from spending money in your neighborhood. And Bilt, of course, gets data, revenue and a loyal customer base that it hopes to scale. “When you move, you are resetting your habits—where you shop, where you fill your prescriptions, what gym you use, what restaurants you go to,” says Jain. “We own that moment.”
The same could be said of Bilt, which many still see as a loyalty program tied to a co-branded credit card. As the platform’s concierge service rolls out in beta today, Jain has chance to test — and enhance — the strength of its connected network and the appetite of members use Bilt to navigate life around the home. “You stay at a hotel, you go downstairs, and somebody can help you get things done,” he says. “Now, we can create that from your home.”
